Runecast Hand Forged 1095 Steel Viking Throwing Knife Set of Three with Vegvisir Etched Blades & Skeletonised Handles | Backyard Target Gift | RK-1530

This is a matched set of three Viking throwing knives, each one cut from a single piece of 1095 carbon steel so that blade, ricasso and handle are one continuous bar with no joint anywhere along the length. The handles are pierced with four round lightening holes, the blades are ground to a symmetrical spear point, and the Vegvisir stave is etched across the flat where the handle meets the edge. The Vegvisir is worth a word of its own. It appears in the Huld manuscript, an Icelandic collection copied out in 1860, and the accompanying note says that a man carrying this sign would not lose his way in storms or bad weather even when the road was unknown to him. It is a nineteenth century Icelandic stave rather than a Viking Age carving, and anyone who tells you it was found on a longship is selling you a story.

All three knives are forged, ground, heat treated and finished in a Czech Republic workshop, then finished to a fine satin so the etch reads clearly against the flat. They ship as a set of three matched knives. The leather roll shown at the edge of the photograph is a studio prop and is not part of the set. The stave cut into it is the vegvisir, and its actual age and origin will probably surprise you.

Specifications

Why a throwing knife has no handle scales

A working knife wants a comfortable handle. A throwing knife wants the opposite. Every time the knife lands, the shock runs the whole length of the steel, and anything glued, pinned or wrapped to the outside of that steel eventually works loose or splits. Wood cracks, micarta delaminates, cord wrap slides. So a throwing knife is left bare, and the handle is instead lightened by drilling holes through it. Those four holes do two jobs. They remove weight from the rear so the balance point sits close to the middle of the knife, which is what lets a thrower learn a repeatable rotation, and they take metal out of the exact area that would otherwise be dead weight adding nothing to the point. The result is a knife you can throw a thousand times without a single part of it coming loose, because there are no parts.

The point matters as much as the balance. A spear point ground symmetrically on both sides will bite a board at a wider range of entry angles than a clip point or a drop point, because there is no asymmetric bevel steering the tip sideways on contact. That is why almost every purpose built throwing knife in the world, ancient and modern, converges on this shape.

1095 steel and why it is drawn back softer here

1095 is a simple high carbon steel, roughly one percent carbon and very little else. In a kitchen knife or a hunter it is usually taken to 58 to 60 HRC, because that hardness holds a keen edge for a long time. A throwing knife hardened that far would be a liability. Hard steel is brittle steel, and a knife that lands point first on the edge of a hardwood board or glances off a knot needs to bend and recover rather than chip or snap. So these are taken to 54 to 58 HRC, which is the range purpose built throwing knives have always lived in. They are noticeably tougher than a hunting knife and they will not hold a shaving edge, which is the correct trade for something you are deliberately throwing at wood.

They arrive with a working point rather than a razor edge. That is on purpose. A hair splitting edge on a throwing knife rolls on the first landing and does nothing useful for penetration, since it is the point that carries the knife into the target, not the belly.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the leather. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this set that means your rune line takes the place of the Vegvisir stave on all three knives. Full detail is on the engraving page.

Throwing, targets and safe practice

These are made to be thrown, not to be display pieces, but they need a proper target. Use an end grain round of soft wood such as pine, poplar or cottonwood, standing on a block so the face is at chest height. Never throw into plywood, pallet wood or a target with nails or screws in it, and never into a wall or a fence you cannot see behind. Start at around three long paces and move a half pace at a time until the knife lands point first, then mark that spot and learn it before you try anything else. Rotation is a function of distance, not of effort, so throwing harder does not fix a knife that lands flat. If you would rather hang the set on a wall, they look well on a plain board with the three laid parallel, but a display customer is usually better served by a knife made for display.

Care

1095 is a carbon steel and it will rust if you leave it wet. Wipe each knife down after a session, especially if you have been throwing into damp wood, and put a light film of mineral oil, gun oil or camellia oil on the flats before they go away. Sap and resin from a fresh target lift off with a rag and a little oil. If a point rolls over from a hard landing, dress it back with a few strokes on a fine stone rather than grinding it, and if a flat picks up light surface rust a grey scouring pad and oil will take it off without harming the satin. There is more in our guide to steel care. Carry rules and blade length limits differ by state, all listed in knife laws by state.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Memphis, Tennessee. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

A note on handmade variation

These are hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Grain, tone, hammer texture and exact profile vary because each one is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and within a set of three you will see small differences between the knives.

Frequently asked questions

Are these sharp when they arrive?

They arrive with a working point and a dulled edge, which is how throwing knives are supposed to come. A razor edge is a hazard when you are pulling knives out of a board and it does nothing for penetration.

Will they break if I hit a knot or the target frame?

At 54 to 58 HRC they are made to take that. A hard landing may roll the point, which you dress back on a stone. What they will not survive is being thrown at concrete, brick or steel, and nothing will.

Is the Vegvisir historically Viking?

No, and we would rather say so. It is a nineteenth century Icelandic magical stave recorded in the Huld manuscript. It has become part of modern Norse visual culture, but it is not a Viking Age motif.

Can I have my own runes instead of the stave?

Yes. Choose the engraving option and your rune line replaces the Vegvisir on all three knives rather than sitting next to it.

Do they come with a sheath or roll?

No. The leather roll in the photograph is a studio prop. The set ships as three knives.

How long before it ships?

Processing is one to two weeks because each set is made to order, then free shipping within the United States. Returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• Three matched 1095 steel throwing knives with Vegvisir etched blades
• Your chosen rune line or Viking design in place of the stave, if selected
• Care card and lifetime warranty against defects
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in hunting knives, Norse arms, Viking axes and engraved and personalised pieces, or read the guides.